When I go walking with my Cavalier King Charles, if another dog comes near me, he tends to get very jealous and growls, even sometimes going in for an attack. He has no fear of any sort height or type of dog so of course I'm naturally worried he's going to start on the wrong dog one of these days. He's not castrated so I have a feeling it's just male hormones and he likes to act the big boy but I don't like to see him behave in this way. Any tips or advice on what I can do? I always tug at his collar/leash and voice my disapproval with him but it doesn't work.

Thanks for anything you can share with me.

Aishling

cavalover

10th July 2012, 11:36 PM

Are you sure this is jealousy and not lack of socialization? Is he aggressive towards other dogs off of the leash or in other settings? Has he been exposed to a lot of other dogs? He may need more socialization with other dogs. Also, has he been through any formal obedience training? That can be a great opportunity to expose him to other dogs in a controlled environment

MomObvious

11th July 2012, 01:14 AM

Yeah I agree this seems like a lack of socialization skills thing to me as well. Sorry don't mean to sound mean we're all about supporting everyone around here but I also have to ask about his exposure to other dogs, and training. Also in my opinion you need to switch him to a harness today. My pup is only 5 months old and I fully understand the learning to walk pulling on the leash thing, personally I think a harness is much better than a collar even then if Fletcher is pulling and won't stop at my command (which happens) I try the limit any pulling, I pick him up. Plus my cavalier has full on cavalier ADHA, so easily distracted!!!!!! We are learning thur it tho.

I can not explain how important it is the properly socialize a dog....its just as important as getting vet care and feeding correctly to me. I have worked really hard to expose Fletcher to as many people (men, women, kids of all ages, yes people of different races even), dogs one's I know and one we meet in public, sounds all kinds of sounds, I have already exposed Fletcher to so many common things we do in our family. Fletcher is not just my dog, he goes where I go does what I do. Shhhhh I'm also a doggie smuggler too. The only thing I have not done well with Fletcher is leaving him home alone. I have had him since 12 weeks old and I have left him in his crate twice both times for less than an hour. But for me that works, I don't work outside the house now and will not be doing so for at least a year. By then I'm going to have holy heck to pay for having such a spoiled dog but.....too bad.

I would be looking into a good trainer, the aggressive manner towards other dog would scary me as well, or possibly he would prefer to live in a one dog world. That is fine if that's what you want. If so I think your only problem is the leash pulling he must learn the walk on a loose lead, it could hurt him otherwise. Also if its alright for him not to prefer other dogs you might want to find a less used walking trail.

Let's us know how it goes. By the way, how old is your cavalier?

Melissa

afoley

11th July 2012, 08:54 AM

Thanks for the responses. My little man is 2 and a half years old. When he was a puppy, we took him to puppy training but this topic wasn't covered at the time because nobody had an issue with it at that point. Because I work, three times in the week, a dog walker comes and takes him out for the afternoon along with up to 15 other dogs so I don't believe socializing with other dogs is the problem because he's out with her ever since he was a puppy. This growling at other dogs happens whether he's on or off the leash and only happens if he thinks a dog is getting too close to either me or my husband which makes me believe he's simply jealous. Otherwise he's a playful little thing and loves playing with all shapes and sizes of dogs but once one of those dogs comes anywhere near me, jealousy kicks in and he starts to growl. We don't have kids so Keano is our baby and likewise we bring him everywhere and he's spoiled rotten. Like I say, one of these days he's going to do it to the wrong dog and get himself into serious trouble.

Kate H

11th July 2012, 12:32 PM

Is Keano jealous or is he protective? When other (possibly threatening) dogs came near him as a puppy, did you pick him up? To us this seems a logical action to protect a puppy. To the puppy it can mean that when dogs come near you, you need his protection. I've met this reaction several times in dogs of different breeds - you call them back from interacting with other dogs, and his or her interpretation is that you are worried by the other dog coming near you, and he has to come back and protect you. The growling is warning the other dog off. I would suggest you take Keano back to training class, talk to the trainer about it and work out a strategy to reassure your boy that you don't have a problem with other dogs coming up to you - perhaps reinforcing his early training to make him sit and be quiet while you pat the other dog, but a good trainer should be able to help you - or a good behaviourist, but working with a group of other dogs in a class would probably be best.

Kate, Oliver and Aled

afoley

11th July 2012, 02:22 PM

Thanks Kate but we had been told from the start, never to pick him up when a bigger threatening dog came along or you turn him into a fearful dog and we stuck with that which now results in a little cute cavalier dog thinking he's a big german shepherd :-) I think it's back to school for the two of us ....

ashleighelizabeth

11th July 2012, 04:34 PM

Hi Afoley,

I'm not sure if this is what is going on, but he could be doing a form of resource guarding with you being the resource. :) If this is the case, I recommend the book Mine! by Jean Donaldson. You can order it on Amazon. We had a problem with Sonny and resource guarding when he was younger and this book had a lot of really great tips for different situations whether the dog is guarding his food, bed, toy or a human. Again I don't know if this is what is happening in your situation, but it might be worth it to take a look at the book. Also I would recommend like everyone else getting some more training. I think refresher courses for dogs can always be beneficial! Good Luck!